There’s something really satisfying about this cover that will make it stand out among short story collections.

The limited colour palette gives it a calmess that will disrupt a busy shelf or website and force the browser’s eye to stop. There is a really eyecatching juxtaposition of the organic swirl of water, the  energetic, jagged title text and the neutral font of the strapline/author name - achieved, crucially, without making the whole cover look too busy.

This clever choice of image also makes the reader start to second-guess the content of the book and thus draws you in to the author’s world. Is “the spot” something scientific? Geographical? A coming-together point from which there’s no return? It also raises questions as to the scale of the stories — gentle and domestic (a plug hole) or powerful and wide-ranging (an ocean whirlpool)?

Finally, the simple use of “stories” to describe the content also gives this stand-out. It’s understated and cool and sets the book in a narrative tradition — you feel that you will be genuinely engaged and entertained.